~Green Bay – If QB Aaron Rodgers is not able to play next week against Philaelphia due to the shoulder injury he suffered in the Packers’ 27-20 loss to Chicago Monday night, he would be the ninth preferred starter to miss a game this season.

Using a criteria in which only one player can be deemed a starter at each position, here is a list of starters to miss games this season (games missed are in parentheses):
LT Bryan Bulaga (8)
TE Jermichael Finley (2)
WR James Jones (2)
RB Eddie Lacy (1)
FB John Kuhn (1)
ILB Brad Jones (3)
OLB Clay Matthews (4)
S Morgan Burnett (3)

That’s eight players who have missed a total of 24 starts.

(Note: OLB Nick Perry does not count because Mike Neal had won the position over Neal before getting hurt. Also, James Jones is a starter over Randall Cobb).

The number of players overall who have missed at least one game due to injury this season is 17.

So all totaled, 17 players have missed a total of 61 games for the Packers this season.

Will more be added to the ranks next week? Probably.

Current starting OLB Mulumba is driven off after tweaking his knee.

Not only was Rodgers hurt, but LB Andy Mulumba (knee), LB Sam Barrington (hamstring) and OG T.J. Lang (concussion) all were knocked out of the Bears game, leaving their status in doubt next week.

Rodgers’ long-term outlook would seem to rest with what kind of injury he suffered to his left shoulder.

If he broke his collarbone, four to six weeks would be a good guess, although CB Charles Woodson missed nine games in 2012 with a broken collarbone. It was the second time he had broken it and the Packers wouldn’t clear him until they were convinced the second was totally healed.

Don Barclay helps the wounded Rodgers back up after allowing his assignement, McClellin, to go free and smash the Packers game and Super Bowl chances away.

If Rodgers suffered a separated shoulder, there are varying degrees of separation and the prognosis can be anywhere from a return whenever the pain subsides to surgery to repair the ligaments around the AC joint.

It didn’t seem Rodgers suffered a subluxation or dislocation because there never seemed to be an attempt to pop the shoulder back in place, but if he did suffer that, the possibility of it popping out again would have to be weighed and the possibility of harness being worn would be considered.